JOIN USThe ongoing game of political one-upmanship in the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly over the state’s bifurcation issue took an interesting turn on Tuesday, as MLAs from either side of the regional divide frenetically tried every trick in the book to outsmart and outmanoeuvre the other side.
Legislators from Telangana who were upbeat since the tabling of the draft AP Re-organisation Bill 2013 in the House on December 16, suddenly turned jittery on Tuesday after Speaker Nadendla Manohar circulated a format to all members to propose “amendments” to various clauses in the bill by January 10.
Seemandhra legislators who appeared to be fighting a “losing battle” until Monday, adopted an aggressive posture and wielded new arsenal in the form of “amendments” and “vote” on the draft bill.
The Telangana side saw red in the move to propose “amendments” and put the clauses to “vote”.
“If amendments were moved and voting held thereupon, Seemandhra people could take legal recourse in the event of the Centre’s refusal to consider them. That will hamper the bifurcation process,” Telangana legislators said.
After hectic deliberations, Telangana legislators cutting across party lines wrote to the Speaker opposing his decision to allow moving of “amendments” to the draft bill as well as “voting” on various clauses.
The Speaker circulated a brief note to members on the procedure to be followed on the draft bill, based on inputs he received from Speakers of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar Assemblies, besides Vishwanathan and P D T Achary, who were former secretaries general of the Lok Sabha.
“Members may propose amendments to the clauses, while views in the shape of amendments can be discussed and put to the vote. There are precedents of the Central Cabinet accepting some of the views on clauses expressed by members in the House,” the former Lok Sabha secretaries general of Lok Sabha said.
Based on this input, Speaker Nadendla Manohar is said to have decided to allow the members to propose “amendments”.